


doesn’t this have a name (and isn’t it love?)

by mermistia



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, it’s 2am i’m too tired to tag things, it’s riverway again. is anyone really surprised, siren au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 21:24:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20534828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermistia/pseuds/mermistia
Summary: Ly doesn’t completely understand humans yet, but they understand enough to know that they’ve fallen in love with one.





	doesn’t this have a name (and isn’t it love?)

**Author's Note:**

> we’ve been talking abt siren au riverway in the squipscord and let me tell y’all. it’s a concept

Having a siren on board the ship is interesting, to say the least. 

River can’t work out what they like. Half the time, he’s not even sure if Ly knows what they like either. Everything on the ship seems to be new and alien and unfamiliar to them, and they’re so easily swept up in it all, lost in a trance of confusion and new experiences. Some things they seem to know, like books and clothes, and some things, like soft touches and kind kisses, seem completely new to them. 

River’s curiosity gets the best of him. “Do you like it here?” He asks, and Ly looks up at him with a tilt of their head and a blink of their eyes. 

“Yes. You’re here.” 

River smiles a little, leaning backwards then forwards then backwards again in his chair, shifting uncomfortably. “I mean, do you like being around other people. You seem... like you’re not quite used to it.”

Ly gives him a look that screams _well, duh,_ and River snorts out a short laugh. “Alright, I guess you’re _not_ used to people, but-”

“But?” Ly drags out the word a little, tongue between their teeth, and slides an arm over River’s shoulder, making their way around the chair to sit themself in his lap, looking at him with a grin that shows glistening pointed teeth. 

“I worry about you.” River presses his hand to his head with a small sigh, curling his other arm tightly around Ly’s waist, brushing over the scales gently and making them shiver and smile and shift themself closer to him, but he frowns a little when Ly stops just short of their chests touching, as if they’re making sure to keep themself a certain distance away. 

“You worry too much.”

“I do not.” There’s a slight pause, a comfortable kind of silence hanging in the air before River leans forwards, sliding his hands up Ly’s back and pulling them closer, resting his head in the crook of their neck, squinting slightly at the flashes of blue and white that reflect off of the scales there. 

Ly shivers again, their hands rising up to clutch at the shirt covering River’s chest, and their voice is tinged with confusion when they open their mouth to speak. “What are you doing?”

“Holding you?” River says, and Ly flinches away from the words spoken into their neck with a soft laugh. “It’s not illegal to want to cuddle someone every once in a while, is it?”

Ly’s face is twisted into an endearing sort of bewilderment when River pulls away to look at it, until Ly dives at River’s chest with enough force to send the chair rocking on its back legs, tipping precariously until it comes crashing back down again. Their face buries deep into River’s shirt and they let out a soft sigh of comfort, squeezing River around the middle once. “This is a cuddle?”

“Yep. You didn’t know that?”

“No...” Ly pauses, lost in thought, before speaking again. “I like... cuddle.”

“Cuddling,” River corrects, and reaches an awkward hand up to ruffle their hair. They tilt their head up at him and he lets the hand drop down slowly, tracing fingers over Ly’s cheek, over their nose, around their ears, smiling gently down at them as they lean into the touch, almost purring with contentment.

“Hm. Well, I think I like cuddling,” Ly says, eyes sparkling, and they cross their eyes and laugh when River presses a single finger to their nose. “Especially with you.” 

“I like cuddling you too,” River says, and lets out a laugh when Ly’s face finds his chest again. It’s quiet for just a moment, and River finds himself adjusting his breathing to fall in time with Ly’s, listening closely to the soft noises of happiness that they make each time they shift their position. “You’ve never done this before?”

“Never,” Ly’s voice sounds, muffled and adorably sleepy, and River runs a hand through their hair again in a soothing gesture. “Not had anybody for a while. Most people don’t like associating themselves with sirens.”

“I’m not most people.”

River feels Ly grin into his chest. “Definitely not.”

There’s another silence as Ly’s breathing grows softer and softer, their body relaxing, until River shakes his head and his curiosity takes over his words once again. “Can I ask you something?”

Ly blinks themself more awake, stretching their limbs out like a cat. “Sure.”

“You knew what books and clothes were when you first arrived here.”

Ly blinks, as if to say _that isn’t a question,_ but they nod their head slightly and ignore it, rubbing their eyes. “Yes.”

“...But you didn’t know what cuddling is.”

_Still not a question,_ Ly’s face screams, but they answer again, a look of mild amusement crossing their face. “Uh huh.”

“So why do you know what some human things are but not others?” 

“Uh,” Ly looks a little lost for a second, like they don’t really know the answer, until they lean against River’s shoulder and stare across at the wall, clenching and unclenching their fists. “I used to be human.”

River chokes. “You _what?_”

“It’s not _that_ surprising,” Ly says a little reproachfully, cheeks flushing a light blue. “Am I really that inhuman?” 

“No, no, you’re- you- you’re fine,” River winces at his own words, stumbling through sentences and shaking his hands nervously. 

“Thanks,” Ly says dryly, but there’s a small smile playing at their lips. “I know what some things are, I remember... being human, it was... different. But I forget things after being a siren for so long. Changing your life, having a voice that can kill, it’s a lot of power, and I... forget things. But I don’t think I ever had anyone to be like that with when I was human anyway.” Ly’s words slur and mash as they speak far too fast, rambling and tripping over words, but River hangs onto every syllable they say, listening to the explanation that Ly seems to barely know how to explain. “I don’t think I’ve felt like this before.”

River blinks. “Felt like what?”

“Like... this.” Ly sits up a little straighter, eyes lighting up as they tuck a strand of their hair behind a pointed ear. “How I feel with you, I’m not supposed to feel that with humans, with _anyone,_ but I do, and now... I don’t know what it is.”

“I think I know,” River says, voice just barely a whisper, and leans in to brush his lips against Ly’s, hands holding them tight. Ly freezes for just a split second before melting into it, leaning into the contact, and River wonders vaguely if Ly even knows what a kiss is or what it means, or if they’re just returning the affection without knowing the implications, and he pulls away with a start, another question already on the tip of his tongue. “Do you know what a kiss is?”

“I know enough,” Ly says breathlessly, and pulls him back in again, holding the back of his neck softly. They whisper words to each other, quiet and safe and reassuring, and River basks in the happiness of Ly’s voice. 

“I know what I’m feeling now. I remember it.”

“What is it?”

“_Love._”

**Author's Note:**

> ly is lowkey sat on river’s lap through literally this whole thing,, gay


End file.
